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Myanmar uses colonial-era law to jail journalists for seven years

Reuters journalist Wa Lone leaves after listening to the verdict in the "state secrets" case, at Insein court in Yangon, Myanmar, on September 3 2018. Picture: REUTERS/MYAT THU KYAW

Yangon — Two Reuters journalists accused of breaching Myanmar’s state secrets law during their reporting of a massacre of Rohingya Muslims were jailed for seven years on Monday, drawing outrage over the attack on media freedom and calls for their immediate release.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who have been held in Yangon’s Insein prison since their arrest in December, were charged with violating the Official Secrets Act, a draconian British colonial-era law that carries a maximum sentence of 14 years.

The case has sparked an outcry among the international community as an attempt to muzzle reporting on the 2017 crackdown by Myanmar’s security forces on the Muslim Rohingya minority in Rakhine state.

The reporters denied the charges, insisting they were set up while exposing the extrajudicial killing of 10 Rohingya Muslims in the Rakhine village of Inn Din in September 2017.

They said they were arrested after being invited to dinner by police in Yangon who handed them documents. As they left the restaurant, the pair were detained for possessing classified material. Judge Ye Lwin was unmoved by their testimony.

"It is found that the culprits intended to harm the interests of the state. And so they have been found guilty under the state secrets act," he told the packed Yangon court.

"They are sentenced to seven years in prison each."

As they were led to the waiting prison van the handcuffed duo, both Myanmar nationals, gave brief but emotional statements on the court steps.

"The government can detain us in the prison but … don’t close the ears and eyes of the people," Kyaw Soe Oo said.

Wa Lone who gave a defiant "thumbs up" to the massed ranks of reporters, said "we will face it [the verdict] with stability and courage".

Defence lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said that an appeal would be lodged "as soon as possible" against the verdict that Reuters denounced as based on "false charges".

"Today is a sad day for Myanmar … and the press everywhere," Stephen J Adler, Reuters editor-in-chief, said in a statement. The outcome was "designed to silence their reporting and intimidate the press", he said.

The army has published its version of events at Inn Din village, conceding the Rohingya men were killed while in custody but saying it was a one-off act of abuse by a mix of security forces and ethnic Rakhine locals.

Monday’s ruling comes a week after the release of an explosive UN-led study into abuses in Rakhine, accusing Myanmar’s army chief of heading a campaign of "genocide" and "crimes against humanity" against the Rohingya.

It also strongly criticised de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi for failing to use moral authority to stand up for the stateless minority.

The same day, Facebook pulled down the pages of Myanmar’s army chief Min Aung Hlaing and other military top brass, in what the company said was a bid to prevent them from further fanning "ethnic and religious tensions".

As calls for Myanmar’s military leaders to face an international tribunal mount, they have remained defiant, insisting the 2017 crackdown was a proportionate response to attacks by Rohingya militants.

Suu Kyi’s reputation as a defender of human rights has been eviscerated by her refusal to speak out against the military for its handling of the Rohingya crisis or in support of the jailed reporters.